1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a three-wheeled automobile having two front wheels and one rear wheel and, in particular, to improvements in a front cowl for covering a frontal part of the three-wheeled automobile and in a floor structure having a foot platform for resting feet of a driver.
2. Description of the Related Art
A three-wheeled automobile of this kind is known from, for example, Japanese Utility Model Kokoku (Post-Exam) Publication No. 39-9805 entitled "Golf Car".
The known three-wheeled automobile includes a front cowl extending from forward to rearward of front wheels for covering a frontal part of a body thereof. A rear portion of the front cowl is positioned rearwardly of the front wheels remotely therefrom. The automobile also includes a floor extending rearwardly from a rear end of the front cowl.
A foot platform for resting feet of a passenger is located forwardly of a deep space defined by the front cowl. A rear end of the front cowl is positioned backwardly of the front wheels. Immediately behind the rear end of the front cowl, there is provided a seat post portion.
In the three-wheeled automobile thus arranged, the rear end of the front cowl is positioned rearwardly of and remotely from the front wheels to thereby provide the aforementioned deep space. However, a laterally-opened space, provided between the seat post portion and the front cowl rear end, is small in front-and-rear length.
This necessitates the passenger foot platform to be positioned internally forwardly of the front cowl. In addition, the distance between the front cowl rear end and the seat post portion is short. As a result, a passenger often experiences difficulty in getting on and off the automobile. There is a great demand that the vehicle of this type be designed such that a passenger can get on and off the vehicle easily without paying any particular attention and avoid getting his feet caught.
The front cowl extends from forward to rearward of the front wheels, as mentioned above, and thus has a large configuration. In addition, the cowl is normally made from a resinous material. Consequently, there is an inconvenience such that it exhibits poor moldability.
Additionally, it is necessary for the front cowl to have front fenders on both sides thereof for covering the right and left front wheels. If such front fenders are formed integrally with the the front cowl, the front cowl will become larger in size and its moldability will worsen. To this end, one may desire that the front fenders be formed separately from the front cowl. However, this will increase the number of required parts and man hours for assemblage.
The present invention has been made to avoid the foregoing inconveniences. Researches have been performed by the present inventors as to how to provide for increased ease or readiness to get on and off a three-wheeled automobile having a front cowl at a front side thereof and a seat post portion disposed on a floor thereof, as to how to provide a front cowl being capable of effectively covering a frontal part of the automobile including front wheels and having improved moldability, and as to how to provide front fenders which can effectively cover the front wheels without being formed separately. These researches have led to the present invention.
Relatedly, it should be noted that the three-wheeled automobile described in the aforementioned Kokoku Publication No. 39-9805 has a front floor portion enclosed by the front cowl. The front floor portion is inclined upwardly at an acute angel. Foot pedals on which to rest passenger feet are disposed on both sides of a handle post, which are positioned backwardly of the front wheels.
In the conventional three-wheeled automobile, the foot pedals are provided such that top ends thereof are located on both sides of the handle post. This requires the foot platform to be positioned rearwardly of the handle post. Thus, a space below the handle post is not fully used. Moreover, a space located forwardly of the handle post is left unused, thus presenting a dead space. This dead space results in a prolonged automobile length, that is, the three-wheeled automobile sized up in a front-and-rear direction.
Such length prolongation is undesired in a small-sized three-wheeled automobile from the standpoint of moveability.
It is desirable that the three-wheeled automobile of the described type can be driven with a feel as if driving a two-wheeled vehicle. Thus, from the viewpoint of driveability, improvements are also demanded of the three-wheeled automobile in which the handle post is positioned forwardly of the foot platform and hence the front wheels are positioned forwardly of the foot platform.